How Eating This Spice May Help Lower Blood Sugar in Diabetics

You all know how healthy and beneficial ginger is to your health. Ginger does not only provide a kick to your favorite foods, but serves as treatment for arthritis pain, colds and motion sickness.

Recent studies by the researchers from Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences in Yazd, Iran, have suggested that ginger can lower blood sugar in people with type 2 diabetes.

Research

The research involved studying 88 individuals with type 2 diabetes. The participants, have been living with diabetes for at least 10 years. They were randomly given 3 one-gram capsules of ginger powder or 3 identical-looking fake capsules daily, together with their regular diabetes medicines. Those who took the ginger capsules, shown a significant decrease in their blood sugar level after 8 weeks.

The participants were overweight and middle-aged, but not obese. The ginger group are in worse shape, diabetes-wise, at the start of the study, compared to the the placebo group.

Their fasting blood sugars started at 171 and 136, respectively. Then at the end both groups have similar FBS numbers, in the mid-150s. As per the American Diabetes Association, fasting blood sugar levels for individuals with diabetes should range between 70 and 130 mg/dl.

How It Works

The researchers are not exactly sure how ginger works to help lower blood sugar. It is possible that it inhibits the hepatic phosphorylase—an enzyme, which breaks down glucose storage molecules, known as glycogen. When the glycogen breaks down, blood sugar goes up, so inhibiting this enzyme could theoretically decrease blood sugar for people with type 2 diabetes.

Conclusion

The researchers have suggested that if you have type 2 diabetes and your blood sugar is still high, despite following your doctor’s advice, you can try ginger to see if it will help normalize your levels.

Ginger can increase the effects of blood thinners, so do not take ginger, if you are taking these drugs. Inform your doctor that you are adding ginger to your regimen and most importantly monitor your blood sugar levels regularly.